World of Damnation / Sweet Salvation [AUDIO/2018.4.10]

★★★☆☆

  Surprisingly, this two-parter finale left a much better impression on me than it first did all those years ago! World of Damnation and Sweet Salvation come together as a two-parter that perhaps does the smartest thing it can do under its circumstances -- namely focusing on telling its own story, rather than desperately trying to introduce elements of the larger narrative. Sure, the Ravenous technically makes an appearance, but it's relegated to a small cameo of sorts while the focus stays firmly on the Eleven and the Kandyman's devious plan to achieve blanket control over a colony through enhanced emotion-manipulating sweets. Matt Fitton does an overall great job of making sure no one element overshadows all -- I never felt for a moment that a particular idea was being overdrawn to death, which is something these Eighth Doctor boxsets have an unfortunate tendency of doing -- snd that everyone's given a fair amount of fun. The Doctor and Liv each get their share of the action, Helen is given a much more interesting light than she normally gets through her newfound Sonomancer powers, and the Eleven gets to show how much of a scheming bastard he can really be. Don't expect a lot from the Kandyman (he's far more of a generic villain that he used to be in The Happiness Patrol), and you'll be in for a pleasant surprise. This two-parter is confident, consistent, and sometimes that's all one can ask for.